Friday, April 26, 2013

I Broke Up With Zach Braff


I am suffering a terrible breakup.

Zach Braff and I went way back.  I can list episodes of Scrubs by name like a Seinfeld addict.  My favorite, 2004’s “My Screw Up”, was not only the finest 30-minute dramedy I’ve seen, but also led me to troll message boards searching the name of a musical artist featured in the episode.  Cue my discovery of the incredible (Braff BFF) Joshua Radin.

Then, there are the more obvious reasons for his awesomeness…  guest appearances in Arrested Development, the film and soundtrack for The Last Kiss, and of course, the same for Garden State- which he penned.

Despite the fact that on Tuesday night I stalked Twitter's trending topics hoping “Ready For Love” would make an another appearance, I am not bitter that the undoubtedly incredible but nearly decade old Garden State held a steady spot all night.  Credit isn’t always given where due, but when it is, #respect.  I'm not bitter.  Nooooot bitter, damn it.


Some trends on Twitter, like “replace a movie title with bong”, are more of an anomaly than others.  But when I looked into the cause of the film’s trend, I was disappointed.

Zach Braff began a Kickstarter campaign to fund his newest film, “Wish I Was Here”.  To date (and just a few days in) he has nearly 26,000 backers and 2 million dollars pledged.  Keep in mind a simple Google search lists Braff’s individual net worth at 22 million dollars.

Now I am assuming my readers are familiar with Kickstarter, a website dedicated to finding backers of and financial support for creative projects via the internet and social media.  It is the perfect place to turn a dream into a reality, much like my brother’s sister-in-law Christina Conrad did when she Kickstarted the awesome Booby Pack there.

And while there are no limitations on who starts a campaign, I am turned off by a millionaire using the site for a project he could find funding for a dozen other ways.

There are pros.  Kickstarter itself is getting a ton of attention because of Braff.  And my hope is that countless others who were completely unaware of the opportunity, or were aware but too afraid to try, will be inspired by his success.

The cons are way more difficult for me to identify, other than a strong gut feeling in my heart that some things should remain untouched by celebrity.  Unfortunately, in today's society, I don’t think anything ever will.